Dental brush.



H. T. HARTMAN.

DENTAL BRUSH. I APPLlCATlON FILED NOV.29, I916.

'Peeeeeed Feb. 20,1917.

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nnnrrr r. HABTMAN, or NEW YORK, n. Y.

DENTAL BRUSH.

eiea i.

To-all whom it may concern:

' invented certain new and useful Improveing mechanism,

in section,

ments in Dental Brushes,'of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

The object of this invention is to provide a rotary dental brush which is extremely simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture and susceptible of general use without the exercise of any skill on the part of the user. A further object of the invention is to construct a brush of the type noted which shall be highly sanitary and permit, by simple manipulation,

cleansing thereof. A further object of the inventionis to provide an improved brush which may be used with the device for rotating it which brush is inexpensive to construct and easily cleaned either while in operating position or when removed from the operator which may after use be thrown away, sanitation being assured thereby. Other objects of the invention will appear in connection with the description of the accompanying drawings, in which is illustrated the preferred form of the invention.

'In the drawings- Figure 1 is a view in perspective of the improved brush, a part df the casing for the shaft being broken away'to show details of construction.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail view, mostly of the brush proper and the means for clamping the brush inposition.

I Fig. 3 is an end view of the brush showing the relation of the guard thereto.

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are detail views of the brush proper showing it in different stages of formation.

It is essential in a device of this character that the construction shall be as simple as possible, so that it may be inexpensively manufactured and sold and may also be used generally by persons who have no mechanical skill. To this end, the number of parts have been reduced as much as possible and these parts are associated with each other by securing means which perform their intended functions in a manner which will be evident to the most unskilled user upon observation.

the dismembering of certain of its parts for the removal or As shown inFig. 1, the handle a of the brush which may be grasped by the user is formed as a tube in which is mounted the actuating shaft 1), on one end of which is sean actuating master gear djvhich. is journaled in the tu'be'a and is formed with a suitable handle at to facilitate manual operation. The stud d on which the gear is carried passes through the wall of the tube a, and with an annular crimped section a of this tube constitutes an abutment to hold the shaft 12 against axial movement. This annular abutmenta rests within an annular groove b formed inthe shaftso that the edges of the groove will remain in constant engagement with the sides of the abutment and the shaft be held against movement. The free end of the rotative shaft I) projects beyond the end of the tube a and carries suitable devices for.- holding the bristles of the brush. As shown in Fig; 2, this end of the shaft 6 may have formed integral therewith or, as in the illustrated embodiment, have threaded thereon a tapered section 6 in which is formed an axial recess 6 to receive a compression spring 7 for a purpose which will appear. The end proper of the shaft?) is also recessed, as'at 11 to afford a bearing for a plunger 9 which projects beyond the end of the brush and v Specification of Letters Patent. ]P ,t t di 11mm go, awry, Application filed November Q9, 1916. Serial No. 134,047.

- cureda bevel pinion o'adap'ted to "meshwith ward yildingly so that some range of play for the brush over the tooth is allowed. As shown in Fig. 2 the tip of the plunger may be covered with some resilient material, such as rubber, indicated at 9 to afiord a pleasantcushioned seat.

Before proceeding with thedetails of the clamping means for holding the bristles in position, it might be well to refer to Flgs.

4-6 for an explanation of the'brush structure proper. This brush may be made up out of a plain corrugated sheet of relatively stiff but flexible paper board, it or the like, the inner surface of which is formed with transverse corrugations h in which may rest the tufts of bristles i. been positioned in these corrugations aflexi- After the. bristles have ble wire It may be laid lengthwise of the paper back it across the bristles along a line at about their mid-section and the paper then bent with the bristles about the wire is to some such position as is indicated in Fig. 5. The ends of the wire 70, as shown in Fig. 4, may then be bent around the back' of the paper h or twisted together for the purpose of holding the bristles permanently in position. The brush thus formed may be marketed conveniently and sold very cheaply to users of the .improved actuating mechanism. This brush, while flat when purchased, may be placed in held about the circular tapered portion 6 of the shaft so as toform an annular brush of the character indicated in Fig. 3. To this end, the tapered portion 6 of the shaft Z) is shouldered, as at 6 near its end face, and the Wire k of the bri tles is passed around the tapered portion under this shoulder e until the brush assumes a generally circular form. The brush is clamped in this position by means of a circular conical hood Z which is in. threaded tapered section 6 of the shaft and may be backed off this tapered portion and slid loosely along the shaft 1) to such position as will permit the brush it to be placed about theconical section 6. When this clamping hood is moved forward and threadedon the tapered section e,'its flaring sides will engage the backing portions of the brush it and press them firmly against the annular with be the most useful.

guard may be adjusted to any shouldered portion of the conical section 6. In this position, the bristles will be firmly clamped in place and held securely against movement. The conical clamp Z is locked against axial movementwhen once positlonedby means of a suitable spring latch m carried on the shaft 6 and arranged to enage a longitudinal slot Z in the end of the ood Z. This latch m, may of course be tripped by. the finger so as to permit the hood to be backed off the conical section 6.

The improved brush may be provided a suitable guard n whereby the mucous lining of' the mouth may be protected w against the rotating-bristles at such time as the brush is to be employed only on limited of the teeth. This guard a form shown in the drawings will probably In this form the guard is arcuate and lies over-a portion of the bristles at an angle somewhat less than 180. This guard may be supported on the tube a by means of a spring clip at by which the desired position and held yieldingly on the tube.

In use, when the improved brush It is to be clamped in position in the manner dethe finger and the clamping the machine and engagement with the.

scribed, the latch at will be pressed in by hood Z backed off the conical section 6 so as to permit the wire is of the brush to be placed in position behind the shoulder e on the flaring end of the shaft. \Vhen thus positioned the hood Z is slid forward on to the conical section until the brush it is firmly clainped in place and the latch m engaged with its cooperating notch. Any form ofdental cream or powder may be placed on the bristles in the usual manner and the rest brought into engagement with a tooth at about the section where the brush is to be applied. Rotation of the handle d, by reason of the high gear ratio,

will serve to rotate the annular brush at a between the teeth evenat the more troublesome sections of the mouth remove all deposits thereon.

It is evident that. brushes of other forms and composition may be substituted, or a polisher of rubber may be used in much the manner employed bydentists.

Changes in design and details of construction may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention provided such departures fall within the ,scope of the app nded claims.

I claim. as my invention:

1. A rota y dental. brush including a rotatable shaft, gearing to impart rotation to the shaft manually, a rotary brush carried on the end of the shaft, a circular clamp threaded on the end of the shaft and movable axially into and out of engagement with the brush to lock it releasably in position and a plunger mounted yieldingly in the end of the shaft to engage the teeth and serve as a rest for the brush.

2. A rotary dental brush including a rotatable shaft, a conical section threaded on its end, gearing to impart rotation to the shaft manually, an annular shoulder formed adjacent the end of the conical section, a circular brush disposed about the conical section and-engaged with the shoulder, a conical sleeve threaded on the conical section and movable into and'out of engagement with the brush for clamping it releasably in position, and a spring latch 'engaged operatively with theconical sleeve for holding it against axial movement.

This specification signed this 27 day of and effectively November 1916';

- HENRY T. HARTMANJ 

